Heroes and Thieves Book III: Carousel
by To Thine Own Self Be True101
Summary: Derek and Emily are going to visit Emily's mother in Italy before the new baby is born. Of course Emily knows this visit will be a disaster and she couldn't be more right. Her mother is not too happy with them not having a wedding or the fact that Derek and Emily are having a second child. The real test is if a now emotional Emily can handle all the memories that come flooding back
1. Chapter 1

**Well here we go, book III Carousel, I hope you all like it!**

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Heroes and Thieves Book III: Carousel

Prologue

"Derek, why do we have to go visit my mother?" Emily groaned.

"Because she hasn't seen Lizi and if we don't go now we wont be able to until after Chloe is born." Derek said.

"Which is fine by me, the only reason we're going at all is because of Lizi and my mother doesn't like kids. Besides if we wait we won't have to go to that Embassy Ball." Emily sighed rubbing her stomach, she was now six and a half months pregnant with their next child and was not looking forward to the ball under that circumstance. "And we're not calling her Chloe."

Ever since the last ultra sound when they learned they were having a girl the two had been bickering about the name of the child. Derek wanted to call her Chloe and Emily wanted to call her Sophia. Everyone else had put in their input as well, JJ said Jill, Garica wanted Penelope, Reid had put in -and rather sadly at that - Maeve, Hotch had suggested Hayley and Rossi was set on Lila.

"Why not?" Derek sighed.

"Because Chloe is, its just so, blonde." She laughed.

"Blonde?" He chuckled.

"Blonde, I don't know why it makes me think of blonde it just does." She sighed.

"Well it means Blooming in Greek." He smiled.

"No, if you don't like Sophia then how about –" Emily was cut off by a call of 'Mama!' from the baby monitor. "Let me get that."

"No. I can do it." Derek said.

"I swear if you get up I will force you to get back down." She snapped, she hated the way he was treating her like she was something delicate. She may have been pregnant but she wasn't weak.

Emily managed to get out of bed and make her way into the nursery. Lizi was standing in the crib crying softly. "Mama!"

"Hey baby, whats wrong?" Emily said leaning over the crib and stroking her 14 month old daughter's face.

"Mama." Lizi reached through her crib and gripped Emily's shirt.

"Baby, you know I can't let you sit on my lap." Emily sighed, pulling her daughter out of the crib, she hated that she couldn't rock her, something that had only started about two months ago. As soon as she reached about four and a half months Lizi no longer fit so nicely in her lap and by the fifth month Lizi could no longer lean on her lap. Now in the sixth month even just sitting and rocking didn't work anymore.

"Mama…" Lizi whimpered sadly.

"I know. Derek, could you bring me her pacifier it's on the night stand." Emily called, trying – and failing – to rest Lizi on her hip.

"Here you go." Derek smiled handing her the pacifier

"Here pretty girl." Emily whispered putting the pacifier in Lizi's mouth. Lizi whimpered and tried to get herself positioned on Emily's now nonexistent waist. "Baby, Mama can't hold you like that."

"Dada?" Elizabeth whimpered reaching for Derek.

"Okay, baby. Emi, you go lay down, I'll take her." Derek smiled taking Lizi from Emily

Emily went back into the bedroom and lay down. Suddenly very tired she turned the light off, a few minutes later she felt Derek get in the bed next to her. She cuddled next to him and fell asleep...


	2. My Best

**In this chapter we see an old friend of Emily's, an old friend Derek doesn't like very much. **

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One

My Best

_And I could swear I hear your steps _  
_ Down the hall echoes a past _  
_ That leaves an ache,_  
_ It's never left _  
_ Cause I gave you my best_

_-Vanessa Carlton_

Emily sat at her desk and looked at the clock, just over four hours until they left for Italy. John was driving Elizabeth up to the BAU office and then they were off to the airport.

"Are you okay?" Reid asked sitting back at his desk.

"Yeah, I'm just stressed." She sighed.

"Well I would be too, if I recall your mother was um, not pleasant." Reid grimaced. "No offense."

"None taken, she isn't a pleasant person and I'm more stressed about my daughter at the moment she's with Johnny…"

"Whats wrong? Is he not good with kids?" Reid frowned.

"No he's fine with kids Lizi just isn't good with him." She bit her lip and looked around anxiously.

"Oh, is this the John we met a few years ago?" He said.

"Yeah, John Cooley, oh there he is." Emily stood and walked, as best she could, over to John. "Hi Johnny, thank you for getting her from Day Care."

"It's fine Emily, she's a good kid, she slept the whole way here." John smiled, setting Elizabeth on the floor.

"Lizi, no!" Emily said as the small child started off towards Hotch's office. Emily tried to catch her but Lizi was much too fast and in Emily's current state it would've been impossible anyway.

"Whoa." Hotch chuckled as she stepped out of his office and was immediately hit by Lizi.

"I am so sorry sir!" Emily said, making it to where Hotch was, he'd picked up Lizi.

"No, it's my fault I shouldn't have set her on the ground." John apologized coming up behind her.

"It's alright." Hotch smiled. "Here, this is yours." He smiled and handed Elizabeth to Emily.

Before Emily was able to position Lizi correctly Derek came from behind her and took her. "I can get this. Hello John."

"Evening Derek." John said. "I'll get the car seat."

The two had never gotten along well, John was laid back, and tended to down play everything bad that ever happened. Derek was always on alert, always waiting for the next unsub, the next attack. It was hard enough for Emily to handle Lizi now that Lizi could walk and Emily was pregnant, but if both John and Derek were in the mix she felt like just throwing her hands up in surrender.

When the two were around it was like three kids instead of one, John and Derek were always arguing about one thing or another and she usually had to mediate. It was times like those when she missed Matthew's level headed-ness, he could keep situations civil, she had a tendency to make them worse.

"Come on Derek, and be nice." She pleaded.

"Why?" He pouted.

"Because I said so." She snapped.

* * *

He had faced some of the worst people alive and yet it was a pregnant Emily that really scared him. She was happy one minute and upset the next, and the last two months since Hotch had put her strictly on family questioning duty she'd been miserable at work as well. He knew she was also frustrated about how much harder it as for her to take care of Elizabeth, and since the entire team was more or less forcing her to take maternity leave after they returned he knew it would only be a matter of time until she lost it. Oh joy.

That wasn't the hard part though the hard part was how insistent she'd been on doing everything herself, she wouldn't even let him make her breakfast and if he let her sleep past 5:30 am she would be livid. He'd tried everything, getting JJ – who'd just gotten back from her maternity leave – to talk to her about the stress this would put on her body.

It wasn't just getting up early, every day she would insist on putting Lizi in the stroller and going on long – sometimes two or three miles – walks. He'd tried having Garcia trick her into spending less time bent over her work and more time relaxing with her. He'd had Reid give her a long lecture on what negative effects of that much exercise could have during a pregnancy. Hotch had even made her take a week off he'd claimed it was to make sure Lizi saw her enough but even that hadn't fooled Emily. Rossi had been more than willing to give her some extra days.

Even John had talked to her, and him asking John for anything was a big step as John drove Derek insane. After an hour of John lecturing her Emily had merely looked at Derek and raised her eyebrows as if to say 'really? Really? You brought him into this?'

His most recent trial was her friend Matthew's younger sister – Lila – who had five kids and was very experienced in the pregnancy department. After that all Emily had done was smile at him and inform him that as nice as it was to speak to Lila it didn't mean she was going to use the 30 vacation days she had.

As they boarded the plane the one thing Emily would let Derek do was handle Elizabeth, who was exhausted and very fussy. As soon as the plane was off the ground Lizi was asleep and he looked over at Emily. She was clearly very uncomfortable, she kept shifting, trying in vain to get comfortable.

"Emi, are you okay?" He asked.

"Just a bit uncomfortable." She said.

"How can I help?" He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

"Well you can start by moving the arm rest between us." She said, he chuckled and pulled the arm rest up and she scooted closer to him.

"Better?" He smiled.

"Much." She whispered, yawning. He pulled a blanket from the overhead compartment and draped it over her and soon she was asleep.

Unable to sleep himself Derek put his headphones in and sat back against the seat. After about an hour he heard Elizabeth wake and start babbling, he pulled his headphones out and took her out of her seat.

"Hey Princess, you hungry?" He smiled and set Lizi on his lap. He got some applesauce from the flight attendant and started feeding her the applesauce. He felt Emily shift next to him.

"Mama?" Lizi asked, her big brown eyes looking at him.

"No baby, we're going to let Mama sleep, she's tired." He whispered. "We have to be quiet though we're on the plane."

"Mama!" She whimpered. He glanced at Emily who was starting to stir at the sound of Elizabeth's tiny voice.

"No baby we're going to let Mama sleep." He sighed holding Lizi close to him and rubbing her back gently.

"Mama…" She whimpered again this time her tiny hand reached out and grabbed Emily's hair.

"No, no, no, let go Lizi." He said. He took the hand that had Emily's hair and gently opened the hand that held her hair. She looked up at him, her dark eyes sad as though say 'why did you do that?' "Please don't look at me like that baby, I know you want Mama, but Mama is tired." He whispered rocking her as best he could. "It's okay baby, we'll be there soon."


	3. Get Good

**Okay, so I kind of finished this story already... I'm working on the next installment of "Heroes and Thieves" now, its called "Fairweather Friend" and that will be much longer due to the way the chapters are formatted. Anyway enjoy this chapter.**

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Two

Get Good

_Don't you worry, you'll soon be on the mend_  
_ That's no trick, that flicker of radiance_  
_ And you'll feel lucky, darling, I'm sure of it_  
_ You'll figure it out...and get good again_

_- Vanessa Carlton_

The entire drive home Emily felt as though her entire family was under interrogation as soon as she sat down in the passenger seat.

"So Emily I heard you and Derek weren't having a wedding." Her mother criticized.

"No Am- Mother, we got married over Christmas a wedding is just too much right now." She sighed. "And no, we didn't get married just because I was pregnant."

"I wasn't going to ask that." Her mother protested.

"But it was implied." She snapped. Her mother didn't respond. She knew it was true her mother didn't like Derek very much Emily wasn't sure what was about it him that she didn't like, but Emily was all to aware that her mother didn't approve.

Emily also knew her mother in no way approved of her having had Elizabeth before she was married and then not telling Derek about it. What her mother really didn't approve of was Emily getting pregnant _again_.

Emily knew that her mother hadn't wanted to have any children and that Emily had just been a sad mistake that had been pawned off on various' nannies and housekeepers. So naturally the last thing her mother would've wanted would've been a grandchild much less two.

All she wanted was to get some sleep, around two hours into the flight Elizabeth had started crying and as a result both Derek and Emily were up most of the flight. Being six months pregnant she was getting tired much easier than she had before, Hotch had tried making her go home early or back to the hotel when they were on cases but she wouldn't have it.

She didn't want to be left out of everything but it was hard for her to stand for long periods at time and JJ was starting to take notice. Which is why she had been informed that upon returning to DC she would be put on mandatory maternity leave, something she wasn't happy about.

It was going on 3 am by the time they got to the house and as soon as they stepped out of the car it was as though she was thrown back in time. She felt fifteen again and looking up at this house for the first time, and being so exhausted that she didn't care about what she was looking at. Now the full impact of being back in this house hit her.

"M-mother you didn't say you still lived in this house." She breathed.

"Of course I do, what's the point of buying a house and only spending two years in it?" Her mother dismissed going into the house.

"Emi, are you okay?" Derek asked.

"I-I lived her when I was fifteen, and M-matthew lived two houses down." She whispered her eyes filling with tears.

"Emily, its okay, we don't have to stay here." He whispered hugging her.

"Yes we do, she'll a-ask why we didn't." She said, pulling away. "And I don't want to explain what Matthew did for me."

"She doesn't know you had an abortion?" He frowned.

"No and I intend to keep it that way." She sighed going inside.

To make matters worse the room they were staying in was her room as a child, she ran her hands over the lilac walls, the bedding was still its pure white as it had been all those years ago. She remembered the day after that party when Matthew had brought her home and spent the night on the floor.

She opened the drawer on the desk and found the picture still in it, she was sitting on a bench next to the Trieve fountain reading a book. Matthew had taken the picture without her knowing. He always said the pictures taken of people who didn't know they were being photographed were his favorite pictures.

"Are you going to be okay?" Derek asked as he came in with the suit cases.

"Y-yeah, where's Lizi?' She asked.

"Your mom set up a nursery for her down the hall, it's just a crib and changing table but Lizi doesn't care." He sat next to her on the bed. "Lets get some sleep, you need it."

"Okay." She whispered changing into an old t-shirt of Derek's and some sweat pants, in recent months she'd found her pajama's didn't fit. She watched Derek change in silence then got into bed next to him.

* * *

Derek was woken just a few hours later to Lizi calling for Emily. He glanced at Emily, good she was asleep. He got out of bed and glanced at the clock it was seven am. He walked down the hall to the room where Lizi was.

"Mama!" Lizi cried

"What's wrong baby?" Derek frowned as he pulled his crying daughter out of the crib.

"Dada, want Mama." Lizi whimpered, clinging to him.

"You were scared weren't you baby?" He whispered. "Well that's okay, you're safe now. Come on you can come stay with us."

He kissed Lizi's head of curls and carried her into the room he and Emily shared and lay down with her. Lizi stayed very close to him and soon fell asleep.

When he woke again at ten am he heard the shower in the next room running and the bed next to him was empty. Lizi was still asleep and sucking her little thumb, and clinging to her blanket. He smiled at his daughter and got out of bed and dressed before knocking on the bathroom door. "Emi?"

"Its unlocked." She called and he stepped in.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, he heard her turn off the shower and she stepped out.

"Okay, if you're sure." He frowned. Emily wrapped herself in a towel and kissed him.

"I was thinking we could go the Coliseum today" She smiled

"Sure, if you'd like. Have you told your mother we aabout the Embassy Ball?" He asked as he undressed and ran the shower.

"Not yet, and I don't really want to." Emily sighed and he heard her leave the bathroom.


	4. Undone

Three

_Needless to say you're the one that I need_  
_ The most_

_- Vanessa Carlton  
_

"Mother, I know you want us to come to the Embassy Ball but we don't have a babysitter and we can't just leave Lizi in a foreign country with a stranger." Emily sighed, she'd been trying to make her mother see reason as to why they couldn't go to the ball. "Besides what if the person isn't good with kids?"

"I don't see the problem, John Cooley is your emergency contact for her." Her mother said.

Emily had to admit she made a _very _good point about that. Really the only reason John was the only person other than her or Derek that was authorized to pick her up from daycare was because everyone else they knew and trusted worked the same job as they did.

"John is a trustworthy man." Emily snapped.

"Well you don't need a baby sitter just bring her along, I always brought you." Her mother pressed her lips together in a tight line, like she did when Emily annoyed her.

"Why? So I can show her off like you did with me? She's not a trophy she's a child, a child who needs to be in bed by seven fifteen." She protested.

"Oh she'll be fine for one night." Her mother dismissed. "You always were."

"I don't care, I am not showing my child off like she's some prize and I am not leaving her with a stranger." She shook her head. What she didn't say was that she was always okay because her mother would punish her for acting differently. Even at three she understood that she had to be on her best behavior at all times.

The next evening Emily should've known it was hopeless as she tried to keep a handle on Lizi and still manage to greet all the various people who had met her at some point in her life. She didn't remember most of them and she didn't care. Her feet hurt, she was exhausted and she felt like something was trying to attack her insides.

"I hate this." Emily whispered to Derek as the small family finally broke free of the crowd for a moment, she rubbed her stomach and silently pleaded for the kicking to stop.

"Your mother seriously used to bring you to these things every year?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, the year we were here she convinced John and Matthew's parents to bring them along as well and I don't know what was worse, the fact that I had to come to the ball or the fact that I didn't have an excuse not to dance." Emily shuddered a bit at the memory, Lizi reached for her from her place in Derek's arms. "Baby I can't."

"Mama…" Lizi whimpered again.

Emily sighed, she couldn't hold her daughter to the fact that the pregnancy was no longer allowing an room for Lizi to rest against her. It was bad enough she'd had to drag her daughter along but now she couldn't comfort her. "Baby girl you know why Mama can't hold you."

Emily rubbed her stomach over the dress, her mother had planned ahead and found a ball gown in a maternity size. Which meant that excuse had gone out the window as well, she could've used her exhaustion and the constant ache in her swollen ankles as an excuse but she knew what her mother would've said to that, she would've told her that she went into labor at one of these and to put up with it.

"Derek we really need to get her home." Emily whispered. "Look at her its past nine o'clock and she's exhausted we just can't keep doing this to her."

"I know but we can't just leave either." He sighed.

"I'll be right back, I'm going to tell my mother the three of us are going back to the house." She muttered and walked off in search of her mother.

* * *

Derek knew Emily was uncomfortable just sitting down, but he knew walking and having to be on her feet all night was exhausting for her. Though she wouldn't admit it, it was becoming clear her energy had gone way down. Recently Rossi, Reid, and himself had been slipping work from her desk to try and ease the mental load a bit, but this Ball was something he couldn't take off her shoulders.

Between Emily being pregnant and stressed, and Lizi being fussy and tired it was obvious that this trip was going to be a long one. When Emily returned a few minutes later she didn't say anything until the three of them were back at the house and getting ready for bed.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Wh-while I was talking to my mother one of the people who worked for my mom when I was a kid came up, he – he wanted to know if I'd married Matthew." She said.

Derek wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that so he merely looked at her and said "Why?"

"I don't know but it just made me, uncomfortable. Matthew was like my brother, the only person I could count on for a long time, sure he was a sweet boy but our relationship was never like that." She looked close to tears, something Derek hadn't seen in a long time.

"I know, but other people don't." He said. "I think you just need to relax, you're stressed about the baby and its not healthy."

"Stressed about the baby?" she said.

"Emily, come on its pretty obvious. You haven't been the same since Reid told you the chance of having a miscarriage or early labor during this pregnancy were 45%. You've been more stressed out than usual and you've been working harder than usual, you've been more and more distant from everyone." He said kissing her forehead.

"I-I know but I'm so worried and I need to forget it." She said.

"Well pouring yourself into your work is only going to make it worse, okay?" He whispered. "Come on you need some sleep."


	5. Spring Street

**I'm sorry about not updating yesterday. I was having some computer issues. **

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Four

_Filled with love and life and grand illusion,_  
_ I knew you'd understand _

_-Vanessa Carlton_

The next day Emily and Derek left Lizi with Emily's mother and drove an hour outside of Rome to a small village that had a farmer's market on Saturday's.

"How do you know about this place?" Derek asked as they turned into the village.

"On weekends John, Matthew, Jenny and I used to come out here and well, we'd reap havoc." She smiled.

"What did you do?" He asked.

"Small things mostly, Jenny liked making cans of soda explode, she'd bring a bunch with her, and then put candy in them and run, they'd explode and soak everyone, she always did it in a quick sequence. John and her were the two big trouble makers, though I could get pretty bad myself, Matthew came more because he wanted something to do." She smiled.

"These people must hate you." Derek chuckled.

"Oh they did." She laughed, stepping out of the car. "They grow some of the best grapes in Italy though."

"Oh do they? Do they make the best wine?" He raised his eyebrows

"I don't know about the best but it is good wine, and by the way don't ask me how I know that." She leaned against him as they walked. It had been a long time since they'd been alone even for an hour. If she remembered correctly the last time they'd been alone was in April, when Garcia had taken Lizi for the night and she and Derek had spent the night relaxing.

"Emi?" Derek asked looking down at her.

"Yeah?" She smiled, looking up at him.

"You still haven't decided on a nursery plan, or even color." He smiled.

"Well I was thinking we could go with a light purple for the walls and a dark wood for the crib and changing table." She smiled, resting one hand on her stomach.

"Are we going to move the rocking chair from Lizi's room?" He asked.

"Yeah we don't need a new one, she'll be fine. I do wish she was out of the crib but it can't be helped." Emily sighed as they walked through the farmer's market.

"Do you think Elizabeth will handle the new baby alright?" Derek asked.

"I hope so." Emily whispered, in truth that had been on her mind for six months, and ever since month three when, she'd started showing she'd noticed her daughter getting more and more clingy to her. "You know we can't call her 'baby' forever."

"I know, so we're not calling her Sophia or Chloe, what are we going to call her?" He asked.

"Well I named Elizabeth because of when she was born." Emily said.

"What do you mean?" Derek frowned.

"When I went into labor with her the London Interpol Office was briefing the queen and I felt the first contraction, I didn't say anything because I didn't think it was anything, ten minutes later another one, and every ten minutes after that for an hour. Finally Gabriel stopped the meeting and asked me if I was okay…" Emily said as she disappeared into a flashback.

_ "Emily are you okay?" Gabriel asked. Emily's nod was useless as she felt another more painful contraction. _

_ "I-I'm fine." She gasped through the pain. _

_ "No you're not." Sophia spoke up from next to her. "I'm taking you to the hospital." _

_ "No you are not taking me to the hospital, that's and order." Emily managed. _

_ "With all due respect if your personal health is in danger I don't have to obey that order." Sophia said. "Ma'am," She turned to the queen. "would it be at all possible to get wheelchair because she won't leave willingly." _

"And that's why I named her Elizabeth." Emily smiled.

"They had to physically remove you from the office?" Derek asked, suddenly very pale.

"Yeah they did." She smiled.

Great, they'd had to physically remove her last time what would she be like this time? Derek would admit the thought of Emily in labor scared the hell out of him. Garcia had claimed it wouldn't be that bad and JJ had left willingly but Reid and only made him more frightened by reminding him that this was Emily and Emily was way more stubborn. Though that had been weeks ago it was still hanging in the back of his mind.

He and Emily wandered around the farmers market for about an hour and he noticed Emily continually looking over her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just feel like someone's watching me." She whispered.

"Well maybe they recognize you from when you were a kid." He shrugged.

"No, no its different" She turned and pointed a bit. "There at that grape stand, he looks familiar." Emily frowned.

"Come on we'll go home." He said.

"Okay" She nodded and followed him back to the car. Once in the car Emily fell asleep quickly and Derek couldn't help but smile at her. She had no idea how beautiful she was, pregnancy was something that suited Emily very well, she appeared to be glowing with health. She didn't seem to think so though, she had been pretty much miserable since it started showing. Not being able to rock Elizabeth had only made it worse for both of them.

When they got home the first thing Derek noticed was a blonde boy of about 12 sitting on the floor playing with Elizabeth, from behind, Derek didn't recognize him. Emily did though.

"Declan?" Emily said, shocked. Declan Doyle, the 12 year old boy who Emily was legal guardian of, and who should've been at boarding school in Ireland was sitting on the living room floor in Emily's mother's house.

"Emily!" Declan smiled, turning to them, his blonde curls bouncing as he did.

"Declan, school doesn't get out for another week what are you doing here?" She asked as Declan came over and hugged her.

"I couldn't stay there Emily, they don't like me." He whispered.

"What do you mean they don't like you?" Emily asked, sitting on the couch.

"Dada?" Lizi smiled pushing herself up and toddling over to him.

"Hey Princess." Derek smiled picking up his daughter and kissing her dark curls. "Hey Emi, I'm going to make us all some lunch.

"Sure, Declan's allergic to peanuts though." Emily said.

"Okay, so chicken soup it is." He smiled taking Lizi into the kitchen and putting her in the highchair.


	6. White Houses

**Just two more chapters left in this one. I am sorry this one isn't the best I just didn't really f****eel this one like I felt the others... **

* * *

Five

_I'm gone as the day is fading on white houses_  
_ I lied, wrote my injuries all in the dust_  
_ In my heart is the five of us_  
_ In white houses_

_-Vanessa Carlton_

Emily decided it would be best just to take Declan back to America with them. The poor boy was having a hard time, getting picked on because he'd lived in America and had no parents. Emily hugged the boy tightly.

"You can come home with us okay?" She said.

"Okay Emily. They won't hate me there?" He whispered.

"No, no they won't." She said. "Now let's get you some lunch."

After lunch Derek decided to take Declan and Lizi to the Trievi Fountain giving Emily some much needed time to herself. Her mother was in a meeting all afternoon which meant she didn't have to worry about her for a few hours.

She entered the old music room which had pretty much stayed the same after all those years. She sat down at the piano and smiled to herself she hadn't had the time to play in recent months. She sat down and smiled to herself, she didn't need any music she had it all in her head.

As she moved onto the third piece her eyes filled with tears it was called 'White Houses' it had been one she and Matthew often played together. She paused and took a deep breath, remembering the time the two of them had sat here playing this.

_"Hey Emily." Matthew smiled at her. She jumped and turned. _

_ "Matthew, hi." She grinned. "How was France?" _

_ "It was okay I missed you though." He grinned sliding onto the piano bench next to her. _

_ "I've missed you too, Jenny was gone so it was just me and John…" She trailed off. _

_ "Oh, what are you playing?" He asked surveying the music and running his hands over the ivory keys. _

_ "White Houses." She smiled placing her hands on the keys and beginning to play. Matthew reached over and stopped her. _

_ "There are words. Sing." He said._

_ "Matthew –" She started. _

_ "Sing." He raised his eyebrows. _

_ "fine…" She sighed playing again. "crashed on the floor when I moved in, this little bungalow and some strange new friends, stay up to late and I'm to thin…"_

"We promise each other its till the end, now we're spinning empty bottles it's the five of us…"

* * *

When Derek got back with the kids he could hear Emily playing and singing to herself, he could tell from the tone of her voice she was upset. "Hey Declan, take Lizi upstairs and read play with her for a few minutes okay?"

"Okay!" Declan smiled picking up Elizabeth.

Derek walked into the music room and he saw Emily playing her fingers seeming to dance across the keys her voice clear and beautiful. He hadn't known she could sing , she'd never told him she could before.

"My first time, its hard to explain, rush of blood –oh! And a little bit of pain, on a cloudy day its more common then you think, he's my first mistake…" Emily's voice trailed off and her playing stopped.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked.

"No. I hate it here." She whispered. "Not just because of my mother but because after everything that happened here I feel like I don't belong here, when I left Rome I swore I would never come back and now I remember why. It's just too much, I suppose it wouldn't be as bad if Matthew was okay but he's not, he's gone and no one else truly understands."

Derek sighed and sat next to her, she was right he didn't understand what she'd been through and he never would but he hated to see her like this. He shouldn't have pressured her into coming to Rome. He never should've even suggested it. "I'm sorry I made you come here."

"It's fine." She leaned against him. "Can I lay down?"

"Yeah you should, stressing yourself out like this isn't good for the baby." He kissed her head.

"Where's Elizabeth and Declan?" She asked.

"Upstairs, Declan's watching her for a few minutes." He said. "Do you want anything?"

"Peanut butter." Emily smiled, it had been one of her frequent cravings.

"Okay I'll get you some peanut butter." He smiled.

"Okay, I love you." She kissed him and went upstairs.

Derek went into the bedroom where Lizi and Declan were playing. "Declan will you two be alright for a few minutes if I run an errand?"

"We'll be fine!" Declan smiled brightly.

"Okay, Emily's laying down in the other room, try to be quiet okay?"

"Okay!" Declan smiled.

"Alright I'll be back in around fifteen minutes." Derek smiled.

As he made his way to the small corner store he pulled his phone out and dialed John's number.

"Hello?" John answered groggily.

"Hey John, it's Derek." He sighed.

"Derek why are you calling me at three in the morning?" John yawned.

"Oh yeah sorry about that. Tell me about Italy." He ordered.

"Okay well its Capitol is Rome, the pope lives there, there are a lot of church services most of them in Italian or Latin and –"

"No, no, Emily in Rome. I know she had an abortion but there's more. What is it." Derek ordered.

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you." John sighed.

"Why not?" Derek asked.

"Because its not my place, besides I don't know the full story only pieces and if you really want to know the whole story you'd have to ask Emily or Matthew." He sighed. "But I'm warning you, this side of Emily has always been something that she didn't like to talk about. Give her time and she'll do fine."

"I can't ask Emily and Matthew's dead what am I supposed to do?" He sighed.

"Wait. Emily will offer the information when she's ready, I know her pretty well and you just have to wait." John said. "Now I'm going back to bed, tell Emily hi and that Sergio's doing fine."

"Bye John." Derek hung up.

When he got back he brought Declan and Elizabeth down stairs to try to give Emily a quieter place to rest. When Emily came down half an hour later she didn't look well.

"Are you okay?" Derek frowned concerned.

"I'm almost seven months pregnant, I'm moody, I can't see my feet, my ankles are swollen, I'm sore, I can't care for my baby and I can't even go into work to distract myself how do you think I am?" She sighed sitting down.

"Hey, you are pregnant you have a right to be moody, you're beautiful, and you're a wonderful mother even if you can't rock your baby." He smiled kissing her.

"Thanks." She smiled. "Where's Declan?"

"He's outside playing soccer with some of the neighborhood kids." He said.

"Mama I play!" Lizi giggled.

"You were playing?" Emily smiled at her daughter. "You like playing with Declan?"

"Yes!" Lizi giggled standing and making her way to Emily and trying to climb on her. "Mama!" She whimpered in distress when she found there wasn't much room on Emily's lap.

Derek sighed. "Want me to get her.

"No its fine I am fully capable of holding her." Emily snapped.

"I didn't say you weren't." He sighed, he hated it when she got like this, snappy and irritated.

"It was implied!" She snapped.

"No Emi it wasn't." He said. "Look I'm going to make dinner." He sighed and turned back to dinner. He was almost as ready for this baby to be born as she was, he was trying to be patient but it was getting extremely difficult. He just hoped she would calm down.


	7. The Fever Breaks

**OKay due to my sisters B-day party I will not be here on Saturday evening and Sunday morning I will be updating again on Thursday, and again on Sunday, but Sunday will be the next part of this little series. **

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Six

_But the fever breaks when its too much to take_

_So you can put your weapons down_

_-Vanessa Carlton_

That night Emily woke up at midnight she was uncomfortably hot, not surprising considering Derek had his arms around her and the comforter was wrapped around her body. She pulled herself out of Derek's grasp and walked out onto the balcony. She looked out over the well-lit city of Rome, she could see the Coliseum tall in the center of the city.

The wind blew her hair across her face. She rubbed her stomach and smiled to herself. "Hey baby." She smiled, she felt a tiny kick and she smiled. "Yeah its Mommy, guess where you are? You're in Rome. I used to live here and now I'm back."

She felt Derek's arms wrap around her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I am, just hot." She whispered, he unwrapped his arms but stayed behind her.

"Sorry." He kissed her neck softly. "Come back to bed?"

"In this heat?" She raised her eyebrows.

"We'll leave the balcony doors open." He smiled.

"Okay." She kissed him and went back and lay down on the bed , he got in next to her. "I can't wait to get home."

"We'll be home tomorrow Emi." He wrapped his arms around her again.

"I can't wait." She smile and drifted off to sleep.

The next day Derek was extremely glad Declan was with them, Declan could hold Elizabeth while Derek and Emily made sure all the luggage was there. As soon as they were settled and at cruising altitude Declan got up for a moment.

"Emily, what are we going to do with him?" Derek asked as soon as Declan was out of ear shot.

"He's going to live with us, I'm his legal guardian, and I don't intend to ship him off anywhere." Emily said.

"Okay, I guess that means it's a good thing we have a guest room." He said. "It will be nice to have him around."

"Yeah it will, he's a sweet kid and you did always want a boy." Emily smiled.

Half way through the flight both Elizabeth and Declan were sleeping, Lizi had grown quiet attached to her new older brother over the last few days. Derek had to admit Declan was hard not to like, he was very obedient and enjoyed making other people happy, the kid also loved to read he'd seen him read for the first two hours of the plane ride. Emily had to tell him to put the book away and go to bed.

Emily was looking at the two children and smiling. "I'm glad Lizi likes him."

"Well she wouldn't have much choice would she?" Derek chuckled.

"Not really, but I'm glad they get along. I just hope Lizi takes to the new baby just as well." Emily sighed.

"We can't call her baby forever." He said.

"What about Juniper?" She asked.

"Juniper? I don't know isn't that a bush?" He raised his eyebrows.

"A tree." She frowned.

"No, we're not calling her after a tree." He said.

"But their pretty trees." Emily said.

"I don't care how pretty they are our daughter will not be named after a tree."


	8. Time Won't Wait So Don't Be Late

**I know this is short but it is the epilouge. On Sunday I will post Fairweather Friend, but for now this is it. **

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Seven

_Time won't wait, so don't be late  
White rabbits on the run _

_-Vanessa Carlton _

The next evening the little family was eating dinner when the phone rang. "I'll get it." Emily stood, and answered the phone.

"Hello?" A voice from the other end asked.

"Hello this is Emily Prentiss, may I ask who I'm speaking to?" She asked.

"Emily, hi its me, Matteo, Matteo Benton. So che è stato un po ', ma ho sentito che era stato in Italia."

She nearly dropped the phone. "Matteo? Tu sei morto. Ho-ho visto il tuo corpo ero al tuo funerale." Changing quickly to Italian.

"Lo so, mi dispiace non ho contatto più presto. Volevo, ma non potevo. Puoi venire in Italia?" He asked her, his voice that same whisper she'd recognize anywhere.

"Sarò lì al mattino. Ciao Matteo" She hung up and turned to Derek.

"Who was it?" He asked.

"I-I'm sorry I have to go. If I'm not back in 10 days fly to Rome."

The End.


End file.
